Taipei Times
Date: Jun 21, 2020
By: Staff writer, with CNA

A recent COVID-19 cluster outbreak in Beijing did not originate in Taiwan, despite its genetic similarity to a strain here, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday.

A strain was imported to Taiwan by 13 people who were confirmed to have the novel coronavirus after they took a holiday in Turkey from March 4 to 13, CECC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said in a video statement.

“It looks like the patients were most likely infected in Turkey and the European strain was then imported to Taiwan,” Chuang said.

When Taiwan discovered the strain, it uploaded its viral sequence to international platforms to share the information, Chuang said.    [FULL  STORY]